1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an obstacle sensor capable of sensing obstacles in all directions and a robot cleaner including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an obstacle sensor irradiates light, ultrasonic waves and the like, senses light or ultrasonic waves reflected from obstacles, judges presence of obstacles and the distance thereof based on time difference, phase difference and intensity difference of the sensed signals or judges the distance using a reflected angle.
Recently, a method for measuring the distance between a sensor and an obstacle using point light source or structural light such as line light has been developed. However, use of a point light source causes a problem in that only an obstacle present in the direction of a beam radiated from the point light source is detected. When a point light source sensor is rotated in order to solve this problem, a separate servomechanism and some degree of scanning time are required, thus disadvantageously causing deterioration in efficiency.
In a case of using a line light, obstacles present throughout a plurality of regions, not in one point, can be simultaneously detected, but there are problems such as limited detection range and difficulty of formation of uniform line light when a line light is formed using a cylindrical lens of the related art.